Commentators Are A Capricious Breed

Some of my favorite, relatively prominent blogs -NYMag, Eater, get relatively few while others with (often far) fewer hits and links can get upwards of 200 per post. Comments, or lack thereof, aren't necessarily proportional to readership- for example, Defamer's piece today on the TCA had 676 views but only 2 comments.

Still, if you can cultivate a core group of commentators, what you post about can become merely a jumping off point for discussion, or, more commonly, inter-reader squabbles and potshots. Soon, you have people waiting for your next post not because of what you will say, but because of how the other commentators respond.

While the viciousness of Gawker's group of snarkmasters (and the occasional "commentard"), are well known within the blogosphere, those over at Essentially Emily are perhaps even more tightly knit, and much more critical of the critic herself. Park Avenue Peerage's are much the opposite; very little is directed at the site's author, as are those of DBTH, although those that do pertain to Solish and not subject are almost always flattering. Below, a sampling of current comments.